Tet lucky money change service is bustling
The small change exchange market for giving lucky money and going to temples at the beginning of the year is starting to become bustling as the 2026 Lunar New Year approaches.
Recently, on social networking platforms such as Facebook, Zalo, TikTok..., a series of personal accounts and fan pages have appeared advertising new money and small change exchange services with many different denominations such as 20,000 VND, 50,000 VND, 100,000 VND, 200,000 VND... with a fee difference of 3-10% depending on the denomination.
According to the provisions of Articles 12 and 13 of Circular 25/2013/TT-NHNN, the collection and exchange of money that does not meet the circulation standards for organizations and individuals is only carried out by the State Bank, State Bank Branch, State Bank Transaction Office, credit institution, foreign bank branch and State Treasury.
Therefore, individuals arbitrarily exchanging small change to collect fees and enjoy the difference is a violation of the law.
What is the penalty level?
According to point a, clause 5, Article 30 of Decree 88/2019/ND-CP, the act of exchanging new money, small change to enjoy a percentage difference or collect fees will be fined from 20 million VND to 40 million VND.
For organizations performing the same violation, the fine will be 02 times higher than for individuals according to point b, clause 3, Article 3 of Decree 88/2019/ND-CP.
Legal currency exchange address in 2026
People who need to exchange small change can go to the following locations:
State Bank.
State Bank Branch
State Bank Transaction Office; credit institution.
Foreign Bank Branch.
New State Treasury.
Financial and banking experts recommend that people should proactively exchange small change at banks or licensed units instead of floating transactions online.
In addition, you can prepare lucky money early or use popular denominations to avoid scarcity near Tet.
